Thanks!
by Thecrazyrabidfangirl
Summary: Kiyone can't concentrate on anything ever since a new recruit came to the Thirteenth Division, what could have her so distracted?... Rukia x Kiyone


**Summary: **Kiyone can't concentrate on anything ever since a new recruit came to the Thirteenth Division, what could have her so distracted?…

**Genre: **Romance

**Characters: **Rukia K., Kiyone K., Jushiro U.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach

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*** **_**Thanks! **_*****

The bright afternoon Soul Society sun shone down on the Thirteenth Division barracks. The clanging of wood on wood echoed throughout the barracks' training arena as two girls engaged in mock combat. Rukia Kuchiki swung her wooden training sword in an upwards vertical arc towards her blonde haired opponent. Kiyone Kotetsu rolled to the side to dodge the blow.

'_She has excellent form,' _she thought as she leapt forward, bringing her training sword up for a horizontal strike to Rukia's exposed legs but Rukia deftly blocked the blow just before it would have struck her calves. She spun in place and slashed her blade upwards, causing Kiyone to stumble backwards and fall on her backside as Rukia's blade fluidly changed position to rest just above her head.

_'She has _a_ great form too,' _Kiyone thought as a breeze blew through the area and ruffled Rukia's shihakushou, causing Kiyone's attention to turn to her body. She was too caught up in her thoughts and gazing at Rukia's to notice her downwards swing until it was too late.

Kiyone clenched her eyes shut in anticipation of the strike, but it never came. She slowly blinked her eyes open and saw the blade hovering a mere inch above her face with Rukia smiling kindly down at her.

"Seems I win again," she said as she extended her hand which Kiyone happily accepted.

"You really should improve your concentration, you always seem distracted," Rukia commented as she hefted Kiyone to her feet.

"Well...the uh...sun was in my eyes! Yeah..." Kiyone offered lamely which elicited a giggle from the black haired girl.

"For a third seat you sure aren't very powerful," Rukia teased as Kiyone grinned sheepishly.

_'She has a nice laugh...' _Kiyone thought as Rukia wiped the sweat from her brow on her sleeve. She could not help but stare at Rukia as the sweat slowly dripped down her face.

"Yeah, well you're pretty...skilled!...for a new recruit! I don't know why you aren't already a seated officer," Kiyone replied as she giggled nervously at her near slip-up then nervously wiped the sweat from her forehead as well. Rukia seemed not to notice as she went to put up her training sword with Kiyone following right behind.

*** BLEACH ***

After their training session the two girls parted ways. Rukia had the duties of a new recruit to attend to and Kiyone had officer duties. Kiyone sat at her desk, lazily doing paperwork.

_'Being a seated officer isn't all it's cracked up to be, I envy new recruits like Rukia...' _she thought as she took a sip from the sake cup she had hidden behind the piles of loose documents._ 'I wonder what she's doing right now...' _Kiyone's mind began to wander, mainly focusing on Rukia.

She had not been able to take her mind off of Rukia ever since she joined the division; there was just something irresistible about her. Kiyone's mind's eye focused on their earlier training session, but particularly the great view she had had of Rukia as she laid on the ground, the wind whipping around her shihakushou; she had seemed to give off an air of beauty and power at that moment.

_'Maybe it's that short black hair, or maybe those large soulful eyes, they always seem sad in a way,' _Kiyone took another sip from her cup. She would have loved to drink herself into a stupor but she had an officer's meeting later and...

_'I forgot about the meeting!'_ Kiyone panicked and jumped up from her seat, succeeding in nothing more than knocking over a pile of unfinished paperwork, and rushed out of her office.

"Sorry I'm late!" Kiyone said as she burst into the officer's conference room, causing the eyes of the other seated officers, along with Lieutenant Shiba, to turn on her.

"Thank you for joining us, Third Seat Kotetsu," Kaien Shiba said as Kiyone blushed in embarrassment and found her seat next to her fellow third seat officer, Sentaro, who was grinning ear to ear at Kiyone's humiliation.

"Now then..." Kaien picked up where he left off, with a recent hollow report. Kiyone could not help herself when her mind began to wander, picking back up on the topic that she had been on before: Rukia.

_'She always seems a little chummy with Lieutenant Shiba, a little too chummy...' _she thought as her face began to redden in slight anger. _'Maybe if I was lieutenant...' _suddenly she realized what she was thinking and stopped herself in her mental tracks.

_'Am I getting...jealous?' _she thought with amazement, sure she kind of _liked_ Rukia, but how could she be getting jealous? _'It's not like she's my girlfriend or anything…'_

"Third Seat Kotetsu am I boring you?" Kiyone snapped back to reality to the snickers of her fellow officers as she noticed Kaien was now right in front of her, but she had been so spaced out that she did not notice.

"Uh…no Lieutenant Shiba," she mumbled as she blushed intensely.

"Good, keep it that way," Kaien said with authority as he picked back up on the meeting topic at hand.

"Thank God that's over..." Kiyone sighed as she left the officer's conference room once the meeting was over and returned to her post to continue her work.

_'But what was that earlier? Did I really get jealous over Rukia?'_ she thought as she did the paperwork on auto-pilot. Thoughts of Kaien getting to Rukia before she did flashed through her mind, which made her feel ill. _'Maybe I should ask the captain for advice,'_

*** BLEACH ***

The late night moon shined down on the Thirteenth Division barracks as Kiyone walked along the outer walkways to her Captain's private quarters. She arrived at her destination and knocked on the door before waiting for a reply.

"You may enter," Ukitake called out. Kiyone slid the door open and entered Ukitake's office.

"Sir," she said as she bowed respectfully to her captain.

"Good evening Kiyone, please sit down," he said with a warm smile as Kiyone straightened and sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Is there something I can help you with?" Ukitake inquired as he leaned forward in his chair.

"Captain, I need your advice on a...personal matter," Kiyone said as she blushed lightly.

"Is something the matter Kiyone?" Ukitake asked as he gave a concerned look.

"There's someone I...um...like, and I don't know how I should go about it," Kiyone confessed as she blushed intensely.

_'I hope I'm not wasting the Captain's time with a personal matter...'_ she thought as she clenched and unclenched her hands nervously in her lap. Ukitake leaned back in his chair and smiled.

"Ah, love is it?" he said with a more relaxed demeanor now. "Who's the lucky someone?" he asked.

"Ah...Ruk-Renji, sir, Lieutenant Abari," Kiyone said as she nearly let the truth slip.

_'I can't let him know it's really Rukia...' _she began to sweat slightly as she wondered if Ukitake had caught onto her slip up.

"Lieutenant Abari? Well Kiyone, I know you can be passionate when you give it your all, though you rarely do," Ukitake joked and chuckled lightly, with Kiyone laughing in turn. Once their laughter subsided Ukitake continued.

"Well then, you should be direct and confident, never bashful, and don't fear rejection, if you do you may miss your chance at something wonderful," Ukitake ended wistfully as if he had experienced such a fate first hand. Kiyone nodded, grateful for the advice.

"Thank you Captain," Kiyone said as she stood and bowed, then turned to leave the room.

"And Kiyone," Kiyone turned back. "Good luck," Ukitake said as he gave her an encouraging smile. Kiyone returned the smile then left Ukitake's office.

*** BLEACH ***

As Kiyone left Ukitake's office she decided to take a late night stroll to clear her head and mull over Ukitake's advice.

_'I need to be confident...confident...don't fear rejection,' _she told herself over and over. Kiyone was amazed at the turn of events, she had simply admired Rukia from afar ever since she joined the Thirteenth Division and now she was trying to pump up her confidence for a confession.

"Hey Kiyone!" Kiyone stopped in her tracks and turned in the direction of the voice and spotted a quickly approaching person.

"Oh, hey Rukia," she replied as Rukia came up to her.

"What are you doing out this late?" Rukia asked.

"Uh...I went to see the Captain and I just wanted to clear my head," Kiyone replied nervously as she turned around again and began walking side-by-side with Rukia.

"Ah, I just like the night air and looking up at the moon..." Rukia replied wistfully as she glanced up at the silvery orb in the black, cloudless sky. Kiyone simply nodded in reply, suddenly feeling very awkward by being near the object of her affections. The two girls walked together in silence, Rukia enjoying the night-time stroll with Kiyone feeling increasingly nervous around the black haired girl.

_'Maybe I should tell her now...' _Kiyone debated in her mind as she absently glanced up at the moon. Rukia seemed to make the decision for Kiyone.

"So, what were you seeing Captain Ukitake for? Not in trouble again are you?" Rukia asked teasingly as she turned her head towards Kiyone with a playful grin on her face.

"Ah...no," Kiyone replied with an awkward laugh which caused Rukia to look at Kiyone suspiciously.

"Is something wrong Kiyone?" Rukia asked as she stopped and turned to Kiyone. Kiyone stared into Rukia's captivating eyes and had to will her legs not to shake. She gulped hard.

'_I could really use a drink right now...' _After a few moments of silence Kiyone finally spoke.

"Well Rukia there's something I really wanna tell you," she said which caused Rukia to tilt her head to the side out of curiosity. "Rukia, I..."

*** BLEACH ***

"Then what happened?" Yachiru asked excitedly as she leaned forward on the sofa in the secret meeting room of the Shinigami Women's Association.

"Did you confess to her?" Rangiku asked as she took a sip from her sake cup.

"Tell us tell us!" Yachiru cheered as Nanao and Unohana nodded, with Isane glancing at her captain for a moment. Soi Fon simply scoffed and looked off to the side as if she had not been interested in the story in the first place.

"Well..." Kiyone continued as soon as the general consensus was in.

"Sorry I'm late," Rukia said as she entered through the secret entrance to the meeting room. She made her way over to where the women were seated. All eyes were on her as she sat down next to Kiyone. Rukia began to blush at the intense gazes that she was receiving.

"What were you all talking about?" she asked as she looked around at the women. All of the assembled women, even Soi Fon who looked from the corner of her eye, stared intensely at Kiyone and Rukia. The silence seemed to grow thicker and thicker until finally Kiyone spoke.

"Oh...nothing," she said casually. The room seemed to release the breath it had been holding in. Rangiku, Nanao, and Yachiru let out an "Aww" of disappointment, Unohana and Soi Fon said nothing, and Isane seemed dejected as she glanced away from her Captain. Kiyone glanced over at Rukia and grinned sheepishly.

*** BLEACH ***

Ukitake slid back the door to his office and walked in, doing his best to hide his early-morning yawn. He walked over to his desk, and noticed a small piece of paper on his desk, highlighted by the rising sun.

"What's this?" he said to himself as he picked it up and read it.

_'Thanks!' _was messily scribbled on the note in Kiyone's handwriting. Ukitake smiled as he sat down at his desk and placed the note in one of the drawers.

**END**

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**Author's Commentary: **I hope you all enjoyed this rather odd pairing, it was fun to write! All feedback happily welcome!


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